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D.M. Procida wrote:
I want to replace my old HP PhotoSmart 7150 with something smaller,
neater, a built-in scanner, and very importantly, better output.
The PhotoSmart's OK, but not brilliant.
The model I was considering was the Canon Pixma MP970, but I'm not
really up-to-date with printing.

That's an all-in-one, I think. Do you really need one? Maybe it
might be better to buy just a printer.
Are the latest dye-based inks significantly better than they were five
years ago?

I believe so.
Is it worth trying to find something that uses pigment-based inks?

Definitely. For permanent colour, pigment is still the only way to
go.
Is the number-of-ink-colours (7 in the MP970) a pointless bragging game
between manufacturers?

No: light cyan and light magenta certainly improve image quality, as
does grey. Some of the additional colours such as vivid magenta give
an expanded gamut. This won't matter for most photographs, but is
very useful if you really need to hit specific colours.

"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...
I want to replace my old HP PhotoSmart 7150 with something smaller,
neater, a built-in scanner, and very importantly, better output.

The PhotoSmart's OK, but not brilliant.

The model I was considering was the Canon Pixma MP970, but I'm not
really up-to-date with printing.

Are the latest dye-based inks significantly better than they were five
years ago? Is it worth trying to find something that uses pigment-based
inks?

Is the number-of-ink-colours (7 in the MP970) a pointless bragging game
between manufacturers?

Thanks for any suggestions. I hope to get better and more consistent
prints from now on.

Daniele

If an all-in-one is what you're looking for, the Pixma MP970 will disappoint
you. The Pixma MP600 is a better buy and delivers great dye-based 4x6
photos.
If you want something that delivers a bit larger print, look for the Pixma
MP810 -- great color!

Andrew Haley wrote:
I want to replace my old HP PhotoSmart 7150 with something smaller,
neater, a built-in scanner, and very importantly, better output.
The PhotoSmart's OK, but not brilliant.
The model I was considering was the Canon Pixma MP970, but I'm not
really up-to-date with printing.

That's an all-in-one, I think. Do you really need one? Maybe it
might be better to buy just a printer.

The upgrade to Leopard broke the drivers for my ancient Canon scanner,
which I've now given away, so yes, I do need one.
Is it worth trying to find something that uses pigment-based inks?

Definitely. For permanent colour, pigment is still the only way to
go.
Is the number-of-ink-colours (7 in the MP970) a pointless bragging game
between manufacturers?

No: light cyan and light magenta certainly improve image quality, as
does grey. Some of the additional colours such as vivid magenta give
an expanded gamut. This won't matter for most photographs, but is
very useful if you really need to hit specific colours.

Definitely. For permanent colour, pigment is still the only way to
go.

Thanks. Now to find which printers use pigment inks.

Answer: none, unless you go for a very expensive model aimed at the
professional market - I think I'll have to give that a miss.

Not true. All the popular Lexmark office/photo printers use pigment
inks, albeit just a simple colour range like the basic Epson Ultrabrite
inks (also pigment). My Lexmark X5470 cost approx $100 and has swappable
'office type' and 'photo type' carts, prints rather well on many paper
types, and also happens to be a fully featured send/receive colour fax
machine with auto sheet feeder, a decent quality scanner (has replaced
my Epson 1660 for documents), an OCR machine, and a colour copier. It's
also Mac OSX compatible and the only annoying thing is that despite
having a good built-in modem, this is inaccessible to the computer so I
have to use a little USB modem to send faxes direct from the Mac. I
guess Lexmark disable sending from the computer to force you to print a
page then fax it...

I am now checking out Photo Quality Printers. My old Canon IP6700D is now
out of commission due to a paper sensor failure. I tried opening up the
housing but I couldn't get to the rollers to try and clean them let alone
get to the paper sensor. I didn't even get close enough to see it and I'm
not sure if I can have it serviced for a decent price. It only cost me $150
several years ago, but it did give me really good Photo quality prints with
no trouble at all till now.

Of course I had just replaced my ink cartridges so there almost full and I
dont want to have to go out and buy new ink. If I can get a Canon Quality
Photo Printer I can still use the Chromalife 100 cartridges.

I also don't have room for there Pixma 9000 13"x23" Photo Printer but it
looks like thats the best quality. My IP6700D had really good Photo quality
and I dont think Canon has an equivalent printer now. I don't really think
I should or would buy the same IP6700D, but I'm not really that familiar
with whats currently available, and I just came from the Canon site and
nothing there stands out. I've seen the Photo printers at Staples and I
don't like any of them. I have no need for an all in one scanner, copier
etc.

Thanks in advance.

Have a Healthy, Happy and Safe New Years everybody!!

Not4wood

"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...
I want to replace my old HP PhotoSmart 7150 with something smaller,
neater, a built-in scanner, and very importantly, better output.

The PhotoSmart's OK, but not brilliant.

The model I was considering was the Canon Pixma MP970, but I'm not
really up-to-date with printing.

Are the latest dye-based inks significantly better than they were five
years ago? Is it worth trying to find something that uses pigment-based
inks?

Is the number-of-ink-colours (7 in the MP970) a pointless bragging game
between manufacturers?

Thanks for any suggestions. I hope to get better and more consistent
prints from now on.

D.M. Procida wrote:
Andrew Haley wrote:
I want to replace my old HP PhotoSmart 7150 with something smaller,
neater, a built-in scanner, and very importantly, better output.
The PhotoSmart's OK, but not brilliant.
The model I was considering was the Canon Pixma MP970, but I'm not
really up-to-date with printing.

That's an all-in-one, I think. Do you really need one? Maybe it
might be better to buy just a printer.
The upgrade to Leopard broke the drivers for my ancient Canon scanner,
which I've now given away, so yes, I do need one.

Sure, you need a scanner, but you don't need an all-in-one. You're
almost certainly not going to get the best printer that way.